So you are about to buy a new domain name for your website or blog. Buying a domain name is the first step toward the creation of a blog/site. Whether you want start your personal blog or a business blog, there are some important things we should consider to choose the right & best domain name.
Whatever type of type of domain you buy, it should be simple & attractive. You can choose the domain name as your own name. But it will difficult to sell the blog running on your own name’s domain name.
As the usage of internet is increasing, development of blog & websites are increasing trend. Also in future of business & transaction will be done on the internet. Starting a blog or website is essential to expand your business worldwide to a broader audience & increase sales.
Also by working on our own blog, we can establish our own online business & make money online.
So to start a blog, you have to buy a domain name. I will tell you about domain name in brief.
What Is Domain Name?
In simple words, domain name is the part of URL. For e.g; google.com, ecloudbuzz.com and many more. It can be of .com, .net, .org etc. Most of the webmasters & bloggers prefer to go with .com domain extension.
You domain name will be the identity of your online business. So make sure, you got an excellent domain name in your niche.
Things To Consider While Choosing A Domain Name
1. Always Prefer .com
I highly recommend you to always prefer .com extension for any domain name. Although there are some other domain extensions like .net, org, .co etc. But .com should be your priority. There is a reason for it.
Most of the people assumes a domain name with .com extension. Like The New York Times is an american daily newspaper. Most of us assumes its website with the .com domain extension which is nytimes.com. There is a high chance that people will type the website domain name with .com extension.
If .com domain extension is not available for purchase that you can go for any other domain extension including .net, .org. co and others.
2. Choose Country Specific Domain Extension (Better SEO)
If your target audience is from specific country or region like Australia (.au), it’s better to go with country specific domain extension. Country specific domain extensions tends to perform better in that particular country. Make sure you are also providing high quality content & best service in your niche.
3. Keep It Short, Simple But Attractive
You should always tries to choose a short, simple and attractive domain name. Look at Yahoo.com and Google.com. Both domain name are quite attractive and easy to remember. For building a big brand, your domain name plays a vital role in it.\
4. Go For Branded Domains
I always prefer to go with branded domains. Some of blogger will advice you to prefer keyword focus domain name for better SEO. But if you are focusing on long-term SEO than branded domains are best. Brands tend to get easy backlinks. Where keyword-rich domain are less attractive and looks very dull.
You can include the keyword in domain name. But make sure it looks like a brand.
5. Say No To Hyphens
So you want to put hyphens in your domain name. I will a BIG NO to this practice. There are some reason for it, which are given below.
- Domain names with names are mostly mistyped by potential visitors. Probably they forget to type a hyphen in domain name. In that case, the website will not open and you will lose a potential customer.
- Domain name with hyphen are also difficult to pronounce. Tell me how will you pronounce a domain name with hyphen. Probably it will be very complex.
6. Check Domain History
Before registering a new domain name, make sure its history is clean. There are several domain name which are penalized by Google due to spammy practices. You can check the history of domain in Internet Archive. Search for that domain name in different search engines.
If in past, there is a website running on that domain name than you should check its backlinks and make sure everything follows Google’s webmasters guidelines.
7. Other Tips
- Never include the name of any other brand or trademark keywords to avoid any legal issue.
- If you are confused about choosing a domain name among a set of domains than you can take help from your friends, bloggers and colleagues.
- Always tries to avoid number or digits in a domain name.
Conclusion
I have comprised the all the points which should be considered while choosing a domain name. I personally experience that choosing a domain name is a time-consuming process. There is always a better one waiting to get in to your mind.
Giving more time to this process will only lead to procrastination. I recommend you to first have set of 4-5 domains and choose between them and make sure it follows above listed points.